Enforcement Directorate attaches Rs 61.38-crore assets of Bhushan Steel

Assets worth Rs 61.38 crore have been attached under the anti-money laundering law in a probe against Bhushan Steel Limited and Bhushan Energy Limited, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Tuesday. The federal investigation agency issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach the properties.

"The attached assets consist of agricultural land in Raigad, Maharashtra, warehouses in entities under the control of erstwhile promoters of (Bhushan Steel Limited)," it said in a statement.

These properties are worth Rs 61.38 crore, it said.

The ED said probe found that former promoters of BSL, Neeraj Singal, B B Singal and others "diverted" funds from BSL through an elaborate and complex web of transactions by way of routing of public funds in the garb of unsecured loans given by Bhushan Energy Limited to their associate companies, which were ultimately utilised for acquisition of various immovable properties.

"The elaborate and complex web of transaction was structured to project these assets as untainted," it alleged.

The ED case of money laundering against the accused companies and promoters was lodged after studying an August, 2019 compliant of Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), an agency under the corporate affairs ministry.